HOW TO
ENCOURAGE CREATIVITY IN YOUTH
by Dr. Farag Moussa ©
Honorary
President of IFIA
Children are like seeds;
they need water and sunshine to grow, and for their creativity to develop and flourish. In
short, children need to be constantly stimulated, from kindergarten through secondary
school. What are the problems encountered and what is needed to spur them on?
The first problem relates to the general environment of the
country the children and young people live in. Does it stimulate creativity? Does it
tolerate and adequately encourage new ideas and different thinking? These are indeed huge
questions that cannot be answered in a few lines.
The second problem is that it is not sufficient, as some may think,
to increase the technological awareness of the youth. More important are the educational
systems that should be oriented in such a way as to stimulate creative thinking. The
teaching, therefore, should be based on the discovery of knowledge, and the development of
critical attitudes, rather than on the passive absorption of knowledge. And this applies
to all disciplines.
Unfortunately, school teaching - and this is a trend all over the
world - is usually based on the child's ability to memorize. The highest marks are often
given to those who merely studied their lessons well ! The pupil whose creative side is
more developed is even considered sometimes as a disturbing element in the class.
For this reason some educators decided to encourage creativity
outside the school system, thus the science clubs which are now open to the young, in
different countries, are places where they can unleash their ideas and imagination.
Science fairs for the young are also useful. In this regard, the
Youth Science Foundation of Canada wrote:
"The comments made by the students support the concept of
science fairs as a meaningful educational and motivational tool. There are the friends you
can make and the good feeling from knowing that you are not alone in your interest in
science. There's an increased awareness of science and its importance, and a satisfaction
from the 'hands-on', direct experience not normally available at school.The judges you
meet, the job opportunities that are opened up, all these are available to young people
through science fairs".
Some science clubs and science fairs are only open to students of
high-school grades, where science is taught. Children - aged 6 through 12 - are neglected.
And yet there is no age for teaching creative thinking ; it can even be advantageous to
start at a very early age. Let us look at the experience of some countries in this
respect.
In Japan, a contest is
organized every year by the Japan Institute of Invention and Innovation (JIII). The
children have one of two choices : (1) they follow the year's specific theme proposed by
the organizers (i.e. safety devices for daily life, or material for use in the field of
education); (2) they choose their own theme freely. In both cases, the child inventor must
submit a model in addition to the design.
In the USA, children
participating in the nationwide invention contest organized by the Weekly Reader
a well-known periodical used in American schools since 1928 do not have to
submit a model. A drawing or a photograph is sufficient to enter the contest, the purpose
of which is to stimulate creative thinking among all the students in a class, all becoming
involved in the process of invention either individually or in small groups. The class
then chooses the best invention which will be presented later at the level of the national
contest.
In Holland, a
competition was launched in 1990 for the first time aimed at children up to 13 years of
age. They were asked to write, and illustrate with a drawing, the solution they found to
one of five problems: (1) How to clean a lion's teeth? (2) Invent a fun machine; (3)
Invent a machine that can stroke your pet animal if you are away from home; (4) How can
you quickly count the number of hairs on someone's head? (5) How can you read a book in
the bath, or under the shower, without it getting wet? Six thousand solutions were
presented to the organizers! As many came from girls as boys. The prizes were awarded 60%
to boys and 40% to girls, out of the five first prizes three went to girls.
P.S.: Concerning girls in particular, see Girls by the same author.
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